Pet of the Week: Meet 'Cranberry'

Cranberry came to the Medfield Animal Shelter in mid November when he and his five orange siblings were rescued from outside.

"We gave them all silly names related to Thanksgiving and all except Cranberry were quickly adopted," said Kim Agricola of the Medfield Animal Shelter. "When he was eight weeks old, we noticed Cranberry had a gawky gait and was falling over himself, so we had him checked by our vet."

After several courses of antibiotics and steroid treatment without much change, he was given the probable diagnosis of cerebellar hypoplasia, according to Agricola.

"This is a a condition in which the cerebellum, which gives us our balance, coordination and posture does not develop completely," she said. "Often, animals with this condition will also have muscle tremors and Cranberry does occasionally have tremors in his hind legs."

This condition does not change his life expectancy, according to Agricola and certainly hasn't affected his playful attitude.

"Cranberry, nicknamed Jack for jack rabbit because his rear legs are much longer than the front legs, is a typical silly kitten getting into mischief at his foster home, ambushing the dogs and cats there, drinking from water glasses, pushing small objects off tables just because he feels like it and generally causing as much kitten mayhem as possible while keeping a straight face meant to say, 'Moi? Oh no it was some other cat,'" Agricola said. "Held back from adoptions to see how he would develop, he is now ready to go to his forever home with the OK from our vet."

A sweeter kitten you won't find with his non-stop purr and his eager personality to be loved. In his foster home, he was allowed to sleep on the bed with the adults lulling them to sleep with his motor boat purr and wake them up with a sunny yawn and an expression that clearly said 'Good morning, let's play,' according to Agricola. 

To apply to adopt Cranberry, fill out the shelter's Cat and Kitten Adoption Application.